俺：俺は読めますので、入りま〜すぅぅ
店長：No! No! No! サイヌ！サイヌ！ノーべーカンシー！
俺：えっ？ちゃんと読んだんですけど。。。
店長：🙅🙅🙅
俺：Fuck your store dick head.
Not racist. You can learn whatever language you want. In fact you don’t even need to learn Japanese. You can just use a translator app. This only is discrimination against those too lazy to do either.
I have worked with a Japanese company for almost 2 years and never ever again. The racism, incompetence and ass covering is astounding. The way they treat women is also appalling but no one talks about this.
I’ll never understand why western people love Japan, but vilify China. My experience in working in China is a total opposite of Japan.
You found that the Chinese weren’t racist or sexist? I agree with you about Japan, but China was hardly enlightened. They were mostly just louder and more obnoxious, where the Japanese were overly formal and quiet.
Both cultures also had a lot of superstitions, like words or phrases you shouldn’t say, or lucky or unlucky numbers.
One word: “propaganda.”
1.6 billions worth of propaganda
Racist, but also ageist.
this sign cant stop me…
Important to note that English is the global lingua franca.
So tourists from Mexico, Nicaragua, Sweden, Adygea, Italy, Rojava, Tajikistan, Djibouti, and Mozambique etc also use English language while visiting most foreign places.
This is NOT an “American tourists litter too much” thing.
Are you American and embarrassed about it?
Your entire post screams so
No, not American. I just read a lot of newspaper about how another tourist got drunk and pissed at the local holy site and such.
I feel sympatethic to anti-tourism, but this sign is xenophobic rather than anti-tourist so wanted to mention that.
Also holy shit #7 from the tesseract list replied to me, I am saving this. So cool :3
American tourists speak Chinese?
I do, right into a toilet ( term for throwing up while drunk)
Since when was “speaking Chinese” a euphemism for drunken hurling?
It’s a term my father in law uses
Sounds like your father-in-law is racist.
No, or would you say the term ‘Pardon my French’ is racist?
Everything can be spun to be racist now a days
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Isn’t it xenophobia more than racism?
Japan has a very homogeneous population, so xenophobia and racism are quasi indistinguishable.
Both are bad though.
Just on a different level
Expecting internet people to know this word is too much
Japan, where racism doesn’t usually get the same criticism it does elsewhere for whatever reason…
Japan cast cat girl, it was super effective. All knowledge of atrocities was erased from western nations.
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They get an easier pass because their products are top-notch. Toyota basically invented Six Sigma/a globally used process for manufacturer defect elimination. A Japanese automaker invented QR codes. They have Nintendo, anime, etc. They changed and continue to impact the world in highly recognizable ways, not by merely cheap products (China), cheap labor (India), etc.
Tldr if your good enough at engineering you can be as racist as you want to be unless you’re white.
They get an easier pass because the US needed a vassal state in the Pacific.
Tell the Chinese that. They haven’t gotten the message yet
Japan is too far away and too aligned with the west to receive criticism for racism
I’m not sure being aligned with the west means much while people are extremely critical in and outside western countries about racism.
They’re hateful, but they’re cute.
This. Also the massive online love affair with Japan and anime sure does a lot to distract people from the less savoy aspects of Japan.
Just like the cats.
That is because they have soft power.
I think it’s more so that what looks like them being polite to most is meant as something extremely rude. Also not to mention the love affair most have with Japan online.
and yet japan is still viewed as an utopia by reddit weebs, despite japan being really racist
I went there recently. The organization and efficiency are truly astounding. I felt like the best parts of Japan and the best parts of the US fused together could make a utopia. But it’s never gonna happen because those best parts are direct results of the cultural mindset that leads to each one’s dark ends as well. They’re both sides of their respective coins, unfortunately…
I felt like the best parts of Japan and the best parts of the US fused together could make a utopia
Big Hero 6 moment
I love their trains, the food is good, it’s a beautiful country.
But also, holy shit, Japan has just never reckoned with its imperial past in the slightest.
If you ever see those tourism promotion photos of mt. Fuji with a pagoda in the foreground, that pagoda was built in the 50s, around the end of the US occupation, to commemorate soldiers who fought in essentially every war that imperial Japan got itself into. It’s very clear political statement.
And I learned this, upon climbing that damn mountain, and reading the plaque in front of the pagoda, only to learn that it was a monument to imperialism the whole time
Police aren’t likely to kill you over there. Just harass you if you’re clubbing with their women.
But they can force confession out of you. Japan has one of the most conviction rates in the world…
That’s true for everyone though. Their police are equal opportunity bastards.
edit: oh and the clubbing thing is in regards to an old law banning dancing after midnight that was being selectively enforced against gaijin clubbing with Japanese women. Japan or Tokyo’s tourism board had to step in and tell the cops to stop before the law was officially overturned. https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/21/asia/japan-midnight-dancing-ban
It’s worse than that though. Their court system is entirely rigged against defendants. Conviction rates elsewhere do not match those of Japan.
yup the first A in ACAB is ALL
actually no exceptions, because the exceptions all stopped being police very quickly
Not despite.
My wife is southeast Asian. Going to Japan, I felt a lot of like… weird energy at times where they just kind of looked at me. I never felt unsafe, just judged. I told my wife this, who said she felt the complete opposite. People were normal to her. She blended in.
She was born and raised in the States, and we traveled to a bunch of States (fuck Missouri) where she really felt unsafe like if she didn’t leave town, they would make us. And Ive shared before how we got a “Go back to your own country” from other people, and even one showing off his gun.
Do I feel like Japanese racism is uncalled for? Absolutely. Again, I never felt unsafe. So it’s really interesting to see this perspective in the comments like this is the worst disgusting attitude in the world because someone snubbed them vs feeling like you’re not wanted/you should leave for your own safety.
I lived in Japan for 2 years. I had several expat friends with stories of going to the hospital, being told they were full, their Japanese wife showing up, and suddenly they have space. Other stories of legal disputes between a Japanese person and a foreign immigrant will always go to the Japanese person. Japanese culture is very non-confrontational, but don’t think their brand of racism is safer. If we’re comparing racism and deciding one is less bad than the other, we’ve already partially accepted that it has a place in society.
As someone in a similar situation, there are differences in the racism are stark.
They treat you differently but far more often than not, it is just curiosity or looking for entertainment from a zoo animal. They are not hostile or aggressive.
They are not hostile or aggressive.
… until you try to open a bank account with them ad a foreigner. Tourists are fine and tolerated but become an expat and you’ll have a much steeper time.
The “zoo animal” thing seems about right. Sometimes they look at you like they think you’re about to start flinging shit around. Sometimes they’re curious about how the zoo animal is going to do something simple like handle chopsticks. Often they don’t make eye contact or keep their space because they don’t want to have to interact with the zoo animal.
OTOH, part of their being polite is that if the gaijin actually asks them for help, they’re obligated to try to help.
Overall, I liked it. As an introvert, I don’t like countries where people approach the foreigner and try to practice their English on them. There are also too many countries where you’re frequently approached by someone who wants to scam you, or wants you to give them money.
I used a bus in Japan to go to Mount Fuji. Seats were assigned like on a plane and I was sitting next to some Japanese guy. I did my best to respect their customs and remained silent and kept to myself for the two hour ride. The inside of the bus was as silent as a church for the entire drive even though it was full.
On the way back at the end of the day, the bus had dropped a few passengers somewhere and stopped at a station for a toilet break. When we boarded again the driver went to see the passenger beside me and moved him to another seat on the bus to sit in a seat that had been freed up next to another Japanese person. It looks like the passenger went to see the driver to request the seat change during the break.
I’ve spent the rest of the ride wondering what I had done wrong. It’s really a fucked up feeling and it must be horrible to be experiencing this sort of passive aggressive racism on a daily basis in your own home.
It’s really nothing you did. The people there just randomly decide to stand up in crowded trains if you are a foreigner and sit beside them. Or this time I was just walking down the street and the lady who was walking towards me just randomly crosses the street and walks past.
It probably wasn’t anything wrong you had done wrong. From what I’ve been hearing from some family who do business in asia. As they explain it, Japan has had an economic whiplash from the 80s and a lot of those cultural and economic policies that gave them initial success were not sustainable long term. And since Japan is a VERY proud culture, they’ve found it easier to blame outsiders than their own miscalculations.
they’ve found it easier to blame outsiders than their own miscalculations.
Enough said, round the world
Yep, xenophobia went up globally following the financial crisis of '08.
Sure America was the big trigger, but no country did anything to guard themselves from the risk ongoing at the time - And in Europe mena immigrants was the bogeyman written about in the media…
The inside of the bus was as silent as a church for the entire drive even though it was full.
Is that not the case where you’re from? Genuinely almost never heard anyone having a conversation on an intercity bus
It’s pretty common for long haul routes to feature chatter, the chatter goes up exponentially if something goes south. As we’d then have a shared experience of sitting in queue on the highway together
In my country, almost any group travelling together is going to speak on a long-haul bus or train, many of them most of the time. And lots of people make phone calls. There have to be designated quiet coaches (or open rail cars since coaches are falling out of fashion).
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What soft power does to a mf
Congratulations! Your curse has gone away 🎉🎉
Meanwhile in the west:
Racism: 🤬
Racism against Asians: 😆😝🤡
“heh you must be good at math because you’re Chinese” (they’re Filipino)
The amount if racism in Asian countries is very worrying
Guess who’s reading this, lol
Anyway, this is blatantly
racismxenophobia and don’t give me the “yes but what if they don’t have anyone who speaks english or chinese?” That’s fair but in that case you put something that says “sorry we don’t have any english speaking staff” or tell me directly but anyway, it shouldn’t be that hard to order tbh, yeah i can’t talk but we are in 2026 with such translation tools, i can scan, look at what it says and then point at the various menu entries with my finger, to pay i can just look at the numbers lmaoEdit: corrected racism in to xenophobia
“Lmao” your ability to use software to translate for you doesn’t change the intent behind this sign. Japan is racist AF despite their polite society, and there are a growing number of restaurants and other establishments with signage that outright says some version of “no foreigners/no white people.” You will probably get a frosty reception in this establishment if you enter it because you decide you were too clever to be deterred.
The Cardinal Rule: Don’t fuck with the people who handle your food
Well, what is the alternative? Not eat? It may not be a problem in bigger cities but smaller ones it probably is (but i have never been to japan so idk)
I don’t see the problem? Even smaller towns usually have a convenience store, so you’re probably not going to starve.
The alternative isn’t hyperbolic starvation, it’s to go to a different restaurant, or even one of their famous 7-Eleven shops. Barring a medical condition there’s nothing but some minor discomfort for the vast majority of us if you miss a meal. Obviously your poor planning for mealtimes isn’t an emergency on their part, but you’re welcome to try the restaurant in this situation. They may serve you and they may treat you coldly or offer the least service, or, they may not serve you, or even ask you to leave. But the sign is there for a reason.
your poor planning for mealtimes isn’t an emergency on their part
What does this even mean with regards to a tourist staying in a tiny hotel room? How much grocery shopping and meal preparation of their own are you expecting tourists to engage in?!
Your response in general is crazy. “If they won’t serve you, just don’t eat.”
“If Kim Davis won’t give you a marriage license, just don’t get married.” “If the school bars your children from attending, just don’t send them to school.”
I’m sorry you took it as personal, but you seem to be making this whole event surround your hypothetical ineptitude and personal inconvenience. Plan to eat. If you can’t, don’t expect sympathy. Christ, it’s like you expect to be catered to and spoon fed as a tourist. I’ve spent many a tourist evening having food like bread and cheese from the grocery store or convenience shop because there were no restaurant seats to be had. Grow up. That’s life.
I’m not sure what you think it means to take things personally? None of my response had anything to do with my personal experience in life.
And I could provide some! I’ve been on a road trip through the Spanish countryside where I was scoffed at and waved away at 3-4 restaurants for asking (as someone with Celiac!) if they had comida sin gluten. So I’ve definitely gone hungry as a tourist before. Didn’t love it! Wouldn’t recommend rural Southern Spain to anyone with Celiac!
I’ve done the bread and cheese thing in Paris back when I could eat bread. It was fine, you know, since I didn’t have to go hungry.
Due to logic like yours, I guess the most rational thing is to recommend against visiting Japan for anyone who isn’t Japanese? Or Japanese speaking at least. Save your money, folks!
I mean, if the Japanese text says “if you can read this, you’re welcome”, it does suggest that English or Chinese people who speak and read Japanese are welcome. It’s a real weird thing to pull, like they think they’re being cute.
It’s kind of a meme that Japanese people think only other Japanese can speak and read Japanese.
Your phone will be allowed in, but you have to stay outside.
Can people really no longer differentiate between xenophobia and racism?
Not being pedantic, but misnaming thins only adds to the woes of the world, to (mis)quote Camus.
But japanese people are not only xenophobic, they are also racist. There was a show that, if I remember correctly, made fun of a black person for making sushi. Like it was the funniest thing ever for them. Racism has been normalised in the japanese society, but there’s also blatant xenophobia.
However, if I were to chose between being victim of racism in the US or in Japan I would always chose Japan because there would be fewer threats to my life.
When I lived in Japan I once watched a show where they flew to Turkey, gave a Turkish chef all ingredients for a common Japanese dish and then played laughing tracks when he tried to cook it without knowing what it is. There were a lot of similar shows, like following foreign tourists and playing laughing tracks when they struggled with the ticket machine at a train station.
I can only say I agree. They are both poisons, if slightly different poisons.
It’s both. I knew a guy who was half black, half Japanese but he was born and raised in Japan. Despite being native born and culturally Japanese, he still faced a lot of discrimination because he was black. Among the expats, we were all discriminated against due to being foreigners, but the black people got it the worst. Even among the Japanese people, there is colorism with lighter skin considered more desirable.
I know a handful of white Americans who at a glance you’d never guess they’re highly educated polyglots and would meet the requirements for entering this restaurant. The way the sign is worded, I think you’re right, only fluent Japanese people allowed here because we only speak Japanese here.
